Electrical system



April 6 1926.

. W. F. BOUCHE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Filed July 29, 1921 gwuemtoz Moan-e1 i Patented Apr. 6, 1 926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Y WILLIAM F. noucrrn, or LANCASTER, NEW YORK, nssrauom BY ME'SNE nssren- MENTS, T was eoum) courmn COMPANY, A conronerron or MARYLAN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

' Application filed July 29,1921. Serial No. 488,339.

To all whomz't may concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. Bouomi, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Lancaster, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Systems, of which the following is a specifination. I

My invention relates to improvements in electrical systems and more particularly to systems in which a generator is adapted to charge a storage battery and supply a work circuit in parallel with the battery, the bat tery serving to supply the work c1rcu1t when the generator is not running at suflicient speed, or is stopped. In such a system the voltage of the generator required to charge the battery is higher than the discharge voltage of the battery when the generator is disconnected and the battery supplies the work circuit, and therefore it'is desirable to provide some means whereby such variation in voltage will not fall upon the work circuit. One object of the present invention is to provide an improved arrangement for this purpose, andalso one 1n WlllCll provision is made for thequick pickup of the generator when it is started up. Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will 0 more clearly appear from the detail descrip-' tion given below, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms a part of-this specification. The drawing illustrates diagrammatlcally a system embodying my improvements in a preferred form thereof.

The system illustrated in the drawing is one particularly adapted for the lighting of railway cars in which the generator is driven at variable speed from the car axle and a storstoppe It will be clear,.ho wever, that the agebatter is charged thereby, which battery is adapte to supplythe lights of the work circuit'or circuits when the generator is not runnin at sufficient speed. or the car is improvements are adapted to many other forms of systems in which a generator s adapted to charge or supply a battery 1n parallel with a work circuit or work 01r- 2 cuits, the battery serving'to supply the work circuit or circuits when the gen'eratoris not running at sufliclent'speed.

, Referrin to the drawing, -1 represents a generator riven at variable speed from the car axle'and 2 a storage battery connectedto be charged thereby through the conductors 4, and.6. '7, 8, 9 and 10 represent four llght or work clrcuits one side of each of which is-connected to the main 4 and the other sides of which are connected to the conductor through switches 11, 12, 13 and 14 respect1vely, and --fixed resistances 1'5, 16, 17 and 18 respectively and conductol 19, so that the work circuits are also con:

nected to be supplied from the generator in which is connected a solenoid core adapted to be raised by a solenoid 23 connected across the generator so as to be responsive to voltage variations acrossthe generator. The

other end of the carbon pile 20 is operated upon by lever 2e which has connected thereto a solenoid core 25 adapted to be raised by a solenoid 26 connected in series with the battery 2. represents the shunt field of the generator, and carbon pile 20 is connectill be some-' construction, and operated upon on one end by a lever 2l,'to'

ed in series with the shunt field 50. When the generator is running at variable speed, if 1ts voltage increases so as to tend to send too great a current into the battery,"the solenoid 26 operates to release the pressure on the carbonpile 20 and so increase the resistance in series with the shunt field 50 and maintain the voltageof the generator at such a value as to prevent too great a current flowing in the battery. If the voltage of the generator tends to exceed a predetermined value solenoid 23 will operate to release the pressure on the other end of the carbon pile and so increase the resistance in the field circuit as to limit the voltage of the genera tor substantially to said pre-determined value, and in this way the charging current.

of the battery during part of the charging period is suitably limited and during. the

latter part of the charging period the voltage of the generator is solimited as to decrease the charging current as desired.

- Connected in. the conductor 5 is a mainswitch 27 adapted to connect the main switch 25 means comprising a switch 32 having ible contactfingers adapted to make contact T the work circuits 4 are shunted out and the battery is connected it not only contacts 28' and 29. In starting up, when the generator gets up to the desired speed as indicated by the. Voltage .across its terminals, the solenoid coil 30 acts to close the 5 switch 27 and connect the generator to supply the battery and work circuits. lhe solenoid operating the switch .27 is also provided with a coil 31 in series in the conductor 5 so that when the speed of the generator decreasesto such an extent that its voltage.

is below that of the discharge voltage of the battery, the current will flow through fromthe battery back through the generator and coil 31 will oppose coil and cause a l prompt and and in order that the lower voltage of the battery under suchconditigns may not produce a variation in"voltage across the lamp means are provided for shunting 16, 17 and 18, such flexcircuits, out the resistances 15,

with the contacts 33, 34, and 36, which contacts are connected directly to the switches 12, 11, 14 and 13 respectively by conductors 37, 38,139 and respectively.

The switch itself is connected with the conductor 6 by a conductor 41 so that upon closing the switch 32 the resistances 15, 1-6,

17 and 18 which are normally in series with 7 8, 9 and 10 respectively,

directly to such work circuits. By dividing the load up into a plurality of work circuits each with its own fixed resistance in series therewith, more satisfactory operation is obtained when the load varies as by turning on andbfi more or less of the lamps. 42 represents a solenoid coil connected across the terminals 28 and 29 of the switch 27 so as to be responsive to variations in voltage across said switch. When the switch 27 is closed and the generator is supplying the battery and lamp circuits, the. coil 42 is shunted so that theswitch32 opens by gravi-' ty and the resistances 15, 16, 17 and -18 are placed in series with therespective work circuits. When, however, the main switch 27 is open and. the battery is supplying the lamps, current from the battery will pass through the coil 42 and through the generator, causing the coil 42 to be energized so that it will-operate the switch 32 and close the same to shunt out the resistances 15, 16,

17 and 18. By thus connecting the coil 42 serves to efficiently control the o enin and closingof the switch 32, but a so being a high resistancecoih, it-serves to permit a small current from the battery to pass. throughthe generator brushes and field,- when the generator is at rest, thus insurmg the generator from the battery a rapid and satisfactory building up of the generator when it is again startedup. That is, the coil 42 serves a two-fold purpose in that it not only controls the shunting out of the resistances in series with the lamp circuits when switch 27 is open, but it also serves as a resistance element connected across the switch 27 to permit a small current from the battery to flow through the generator when it is running below critical speed 'or is at rest, in order to insure satisfactory pickup of the generator when it is again started up.

While I have described the invention in great detail and with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, 1 do not deslre to be limited to such details or embodiment since mahy changes and modifications may be made and the invention embodied in widely different forms without departing from the spirit and scope thereof in itsbroader aspects as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is, new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. An electrical system ator, 'a storage battery and a plurality of work circuits connected to be supplied from the generator in parallel, a fixed resistance in series in each work circuit respectively, aswitch for short circuiting said resistances, a coil for electromagnetic'ally closing said switch to short circuit said resistances" and anelectro-responsively operated switch for connecting and disconnecting the generator from the battery and work circuits, said coil being connected across said last mentioned switch, whereby it is energized when the last mentioned switch is open and serves'to permit the battery to supply current to the generator when said last mentioned switch is open 'work circuitconnected to be supplied the generator in parallel, an electro-responsively operated switch for connecting and disconnect'ng and workcircuit, a fixed resistance in series with the work circuit, a switch for short cirthe secondswitch and also permit the battery to supply current to the generator, and said second switch being held closed by the electro-magnetic force of said coil and a switch in the work'circuit for disconnecting the work circuit from the battery and generator. without affecting said coil when the first switch isopen. j

v3. An electrical system having in combination a generator, a storage battery andja plurality of work circuits'connected to be having a gener- Anelectrical system having in combination a generator, a storage battery and the. generator from the battery supplied from the generator in electro-responsively operated switch for connecting and disconnecting the generator, from the battery and work circuits, a plurality of fixed resistances in series with the work circuits respectively, means for short circuiting said resistances, and a coil controlling said short circuiting means, said coil being connected across said switch whereby when the switch is open the coil is energized to cause the resistances to be short circuited and also permit the battery to supply current to the generator.

4. An electrical system having in combination a generator, a storage battery and a plurality of work circuits connected to be supplied-from the generator in parallel, an electro-responsively operated switch for connecting and disconnecting the generator from the battery and work circuit-s, a plurality of fixed resistances in series with the work circuits respectively, means for short circuiting said resistances and a coil-controlling the short circuiting of,all of said resistances, said coil being connected to be responsive to the opening and closing ofsaid I switch, whereby when the switch is open the resistances are short' circuited.

5. An electrical system having in combination a generator, astorage battery and a plurality of work circuits connected to be"- parallel, an supplied from the generator in parallel, an.

electro-responsively operated switch for connecting and disconnecting the generator from the battery and work circuits, a plurality of fixed resistances in series with the v a work circuits respectively, a single switching element for short circuiting all of said resistances, and a coil which when energized holds said switching element in position to short circuit said resistances, said coil being energized responsive to the opening of -said' first mentioned switch.

6. An electrical system having in combination a generator, a storage battery and a plurality of work circuits'connected-to 'be supplied from the generator in parallel, an electro-responsi-vely operated switch for connecting and disconnecting the generator from the battery and work circuits, a plurality of fixed resistances in series with the work circuits respectively, a single switching element for short circuitiug all of said 'resistances, and electro-responsive means for controlling said switching element responsive to the opening and closing of the first mentioned switch.

Signed at Depew in the county of Erie and Stateof New York this 27th day of July A. D. 1921. g Y I WILLIAM F, BOUCHE. 

